Teaching Lessons That Outlast a Gold Medal.
In youth sports today, it’s easy to measure success by medals, trophies, and tournament wins.
But the truth is: the best development happens beyond the scoreboard.
Winning is exciting, but in youth volleyball, it should never be the end goal.
The real success lies in teaching athletes to build skills, resilience, character, and a lifelong love for the game — not just chase short-term results.
Why Winning Is Not the Problem — But the Focus On It Is
Let’s be clear:
Winning isn’t bad. Competing hard isn’t bad.
Athletes should strive to win.
The problem? When the focus shifts from improvement and learning to validation by results, development gets sacrificed.
Here’s what often happens when programs and parents focus only on winning:
– Risk-taking disappears (players avoid mistakes at all costs)
– Learning slows down (because short-term success matters more than long-term skills)
– Fear of failure grows (because mistakes are punished socially)
– Players tie their self-worth to a score (instead of to effort, grit, or teamwork)
It builds athletes who are fast starters — and fast quitters.
What True Success Looks Like in Youth Sports
If winning isn’t the real goal, what is?
The goal is to build athletes who:
– Learn how to struggle and keep pushing
– Improve technically across seasons, not just tournaments
– Handle pressure without crumbling emotionally
– Stay in the sport long enough to reach their true potential
– Carry lessons from sport into life (teamwork, grit, humility, perseverance)
Medals don’t last.
Mindsets do.
How Coaches and Parents Can Shift the Focus
1. Praise the effort, not just the outcome.
Talk about attitude, focus, communication, hustle — not just the win.
2. Normalize setbacks and struggle.
Growth comes from discomfort. Make it normal, not shameful.
3. Teach athletes to self-evaluate.
Ask: “What did you do well today? What’s one thing you want to get better at?”
4. Celebrate skills outside the scoreboard.
Recognize aggressive serving, better communication, leadership — not just final scores.
The Long-Term View
Most youth volleyball players won’t end up on a national team or playing Division I university ball.
And that’s okay.
The goal isn’t to raise only champions.
The goal is to raise:
– Leaders
– Problem-solvers
– Confident, resilient people who can handle adversity beyond the court
If they become elite volleyball players — amazing.
If they become strong, balanced young adults — even better.
Winning youth tournaments feels good.
But raising kids who win at life?
That’s the real gold medal.
Coach Luc Tremblay is the Founder and Head Coach of Volleyball Winnipeg & Volleyball Calgary.
Luc has been coaching for over 30 years across all age levels and abilities. He leads the VISION coach development program and designed many of the training methods used in our programs. click here.